HomeMy WebLinkAbout3/13/2018 - Regular
March 13, 2018
111
Roanoke County Administration Center
5204 Bernard Drive
Roanoke, Virginia 24018
The Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia met this day at the
Roanoke County Administration Center, this being the second Tuesday and the first
regularly scheduled meeting of the month of March 2018. Audio and video recordings
of this meeting will be held on file for a minimum of five (5) years in the office of the
Clerk to the Board of Supervisors.
IN RE: OPENING CEREMONIES
Before the meeting was called to order a moment of silence was
observed. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all present.
IN RE: CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Hooker called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. The roll call
was taken.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Martha B. Hooker, Supervisors George G. Assaid,
Phil C. North, Joseph P. McNamara and P. Jason Peters
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: Thomas C. Gates, County Administrator; Daniel R.
O’Donnell, Assistant County Administrator; Richard
Caywood, Assistant County Administrator; Ruth Ellen
Kuhnel, County Attorney; Amy Whittaker, Public Information
Officer and Deborah C. Jacks, Chief Deputy Clerk to the
Board
IN RE: PROCLAMATIONS, RESOLUTIONS, RECOGNITIONS AND AWARDS
1. Proclamation declaring March as American Red Cross Month in
the County of Roanoke (Jackie Grant, Executive Director,
American Red Cross)
Proclamation was read and accepted by Ms. Grant.
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IN RE: BRIEFINGS
1. Briefing to discuss with the Board of Supervisors the County
Administrator's Proposed Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Operating
Budget (Thomas C. Gates, County Administrator; Christopher R.
Bever, Director, Management and Budget)
Supervisor McNamara inquired if the eight cents for debt is both principal
and interest with Mr. Gates affirming.
Supervisor Peters inquired if the Safer Grant for three years is fully paid
with Mr. Gates responding there will be minor items.
Supervisor McNamara inquired if the school are in agreement with the
transfer with Mr. Bever responding in the affirmative.
Chairman Hooker thanked staff for preparation.
IN RE: FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES
1. Ordinance approving a lease with Reba Farm Inn to provide
equestrian camping facilities and services in Explore Park (Doug
Blount, Director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism)
Mr. Blount outlined the request for ordinance.
Supervisor North inquired as to the proforma for the first year with Mr.
Blount responding ½ years of operations, $15,000 with 400 participants to 45,000 by
year three with 1,200 participants. There was no further discussion.
Supervisor Peters’ motion to approve the first reading and set the second
reading for March 27, 2018, was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and approved by
the following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, North, McNamara, Peters, Hooker
NAYS: None
2. Ordinance approving a lease with Treetop Quest Roanoke, LLC to
provide an aerial adventure course at Explore Park (Doug Blount,
Director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism)
Mr. Blount outlined the request for ordinance. There was no discussion.
Supervisor Peters’ motion to approve the first reading and set the second
reading for March 27, 2018, was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and approved by
the following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, North, McNamara, Peters, Hooker
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NAYS: None
IN RE: SECOND READING OF ORDINANCES
1. Ordinance accepting and appropriating funds in the amount of
$368,730 to Roanoke County Public Schools (Rebecca Owens,
Director of Finance)
Ms. Owens advised there were no changes since the first reading.
ORDINANCE 031318-1 ACCEPTING AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS IN
THE AMOUNT OF $368,730 TO ROANOKE COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
WHEREAS, Roanoke County Public Schools received $368,730 in E-Rate
revenue during the year not originally budgeted; and
WHEREAS, any funds received during the year that were not included in the
budget approved by the Board of Supervisors requires appropriation before the funds
can be spent; and
WHEREAS, software support for the building security system will expire on
September 2018; and
WHEREAS, the maintenance renewal on all building security systems will cost
$468,000; and
WHEREAS, Section 18.04 of the Roanoke County Charter provides that funds be
appropriated by ordinance; and
WHEREAS, first reading of this ordinance was held on February 27, 2018, and
the second reading was held on March 13, 2018.
BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as
follows:
1. That the sum of $368,730 is hereby appropriated to the County School
Board of Roanoke County for fiscal year 2017-2018 .
2. That this ordinance shall take effect from and after the date of adoption.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the ordinance, seconded by
Supervisor North the motion was approved by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, North, McNamara, Peters, Hooker
NAYS: None
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IN RE: CONSENT AGENDA
RESOLUTION 031318-2 APPROVING AND CONCURRING IN
CERTAIN ITEMS SET FORTH ON THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AGENDA FOR THIS DATE DESIGNATED AS
ITEM I- CONSENT AGENDA
BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke County, Virginia, as
follows:
That the certain section of the agenda of the Board of Supervisors for March 13,
2018, designated as Item I - Consent Agenda be, and hereby is, approved and
concurred in as to each item separately set forth in said section designated Items 1
through 5 inclusive, as follows:
1. Approval of minutes – January 23, 2018
2. Request to accept and allocate grant funds in the amount of $2,000 for the Public
Safety Answering Points (PSAP) Educational Grant Program
3. Resolution requesting acceptance of Sullivan Lane into the Virginia Department
of Transportation Secondary System
4. Resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of Supervisors of Roanoke
County to Timothy R. Baker, Deputy Sheriff-Sergeant-Inmate/Jail Services, upon
his retirement after more than twenty-two (22) years of service
5. Confirmation of appointment to the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission (At-
Large)
On motion of Supervisor Peters to adopt the resolution, seconded by Supervisor
McNamara the motion was approved by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, North, McNamara, Peters, Hooker
NAYS: None
A-031318-2.a
RESOLUTION 031318-2.b REQUESTING ACCEPTANCE OF
SULLIVAN LANE INTO THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION SECONDARY SYSTEM
WHEREAS, the streets described on the attached VDOT Form AM-4.3, fully
incorporated herein by reference, are shown on plats recorded in the Clerk's Office of
the Circuit Court of Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, the representative for the Virginia Department of Transportation has
advised this Board that the street(s) meet the requirements established by the Virginia
Department of Transportation’s Subdivision Street Requirements; and
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WHEREAS, the County and the Virginia Department of Transportation have
entered into an agreement on March 9, 1999, for comprehensive stormwater detention,
which applies to this request for addition.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, this Board requests the Virginia
Department of Transportation to add the street(s) described on the attached Additions
Form AM-4.3 to the secondary system of State highways, pursuant to §33.1-229, Code
of Virginia, and the Department's Subdivision Street Requirements, after receiving a
copy of this resolution and all outstanding fees and documents required of the
developer, whichever occurs last in time; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, this Board guarantees a clear and unrestricted
right-of-way, as described, and any necessary easements for cuts, fills and drainage;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be
forwarded to the Residency Administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, the motion was
seconded by Supervisor North and was approved by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, North, McNamara, Peters, Hooker
NAYS: None
RESOLUTION 031318-2.c EXPRESSING THE APPRECIATION
OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF ROANOKE COUNTY
TO TIMOTHY R. BAKER, DEPUTY SHERIFF-SERGEANT-
INMATE/JAIL SERVICES, UPON HIS RETIREMENT AFTER
TWENTY-TWO (22) YEARS OF SERVICE
WHEREAS, Mr. Baker was employed by Roanoke County on April 3, 1995; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Baker retired on March 1, 2018, after twenty-two years and
eleven months of devoted, faithful and expert service to Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, during Mr. Baker’s tenure with the Sheriff’s Department, he has
served as a Deputy Sheriff-Sergeant-Inmate/Jail Services, Deputy Sheriff-
Care/Confinement, and Deputy Sheriff-Sergeant and has served with professionalism
and dedication in providing services to the citizens of Roanoke County; and
WHEREAS, during Mr. Baker’s time serving the citizens of Roanoke County, he
did so with exceptional dedication and determination to ensure that he provided the
highest level of service possible. As the Jail’s Services Sergeant, Mr. Baker strived to
find innovative ways to save taxpayer dollars. He initiated a bulk purchase program in
conjunction with the Western Virginia Regional Jail which has saved thousands of
dollars in janitorial supply costs. Mr. Baker had a way to bring a smile to everyone’s face
with just his everyday pleasant attitude and genuine concern for their well-being. Mr.
Baker will be missed by his colleagues and leaves behind a magnificent legacy of well-
deserved respect and outstanding service;
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WHEREAS, Mr. Baker plans on spending his retirement enjoying time with his
family and his new found hobby of metal detecting. He also has expressed his desire to
promote childhood literacy by volunteering his time to the “Little Free Library”
organization. Mr. Baker would like to see library boxes, similar to the one located in the
lobby of the Roanoke County Jail, throughout the entire Roanoke Valley and feels that
his experience will be most helpful in achieving the organization’s mission.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of
Roanoke County expresses its deepest appreciation and the appreciation of the citizens
of Roanoke County to TIMOTHY R. BAKER for more than twenty-two years of capable,
loyal and dedicated service to Roanoke County; and
FURTHER, the Board of Supervisors does express its best wishes for a happy
and productive retirement.
On motion of Supervisor McNamara to adopt the resolution, the motion was
seconded by Supervisor North and was approved by the following recorded vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, North, McNamara, Peters, Hooker
NAYS: None
A-031318-2.d
IN RE: CITIZENS’ COMMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
IN RE: REPORTS
Supervisor Peters moved to receive and file the following reports. The
motion was seconded by Supervisor McNamara and carried by the following recorded
vote:
AYES: Supervisors Assaid, North, McNamara, Peters, Hooker
NAYS: None
1. Unappropriated, Board Contingency and Capital Reserves Report
2. Outstanding Debt Report
3. Statement of Treasurer's Accountability per Investment and Portfolio
Policy as of November 30, 2017
4. Statement of Treasurer's Accountability per Investment and Portfolio
Policy as of December 31, 2017
IN RE: REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS
Supervisor Assaid stated he had two items. One, he would like to get an
update on the financial policies that we had asked the County Administrator to prepare
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and also where we are with the CMP Projects List that he has asked for on two separate
occasions, January 9, 2018 and again February 27, 2018. Mr. Gates commented the
financial policy piece is being prepared and believed that the Board request that staff
provide not only a document that represents the recommended financial policies, but
something that you could walk from the existing policies to what is proposed. So that is
being prepared. As far as the CMP Projects, he is not sure. Supervisor Assaid asked
Mr. Gates to follow up.
Supervisor North stated he had a few comments to let folks know what has been
th
going on in the Hollins District. First, on February 28, he attended the dedication of the
th
renovated Dana Science Building at Hollins University and on March 5, he joined
Hollins representatives and Roanoke County School representatives to view these new
facilities for ideas integrating some of the new features into our County schools
Chemistry and Biology labs. Second, there was a great turn out for community meetings
that were reimagining the Hollins area. Roanoke County is developing plans to increase
multi-modal connections within Hollins and enhance an important commercial center.
This open-style meeting was held twice in March and results will be reported in May on
the input we gathered from our citizens both in person and through the survey. Last, on
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Sunday, March 11, the Hollins Library opened from 1 to 5 p.m. and over 140 citizens
visited. A special thanks goes out to the Library Services, Library Marketing and the
Hollins Library staff for their welcoming efforts.
Supervisor McNamara stated he had a few things, first on our Consent
Agenda today, we approved a new appointee to the Airport Commission. First on our
consent to the Airport Commission. Just for the citizens to know, there were a number of
people who had an interest in that position and so extremely, extremely qualified people
to have an interest in serving our valley. He wants everybody to know there are great
citizens out there who are working and willing to volunteer their time to move our
community and really our whole valley forward and for that he is very appreciative. The
Board has selected a fine candidate, but there were a number of very fine candidates as
well. Secondly, we heard a little bit about community meetings; but for the folks over in
the Windsor Hills area, there will be an Oak Grove community meeting on what our
vision might be for the Oak Grove area going forward. It is going to be March 15, 2018,
Thursday between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Oak Grove Elementary School. You don’t
need to be there from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. You can stop in for a few minutes at any
point and share some of your thoughts. That meeting is repeated a week from Saturday,
March 24, 2018. So if you have an interest, we would love to see you there. Saturday it
is between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon and again it is at Oak Grove Elementary School.
Third, we are getting farther and farther along in our budget and we are about 98% there
and it has been mentioned, but he wants to mention it again. There has been a lot of
hard work by staff, department heads in putting together a budget and understanding the
needs of our citizens. It our position and our job to try to evaluate the budget through our
eyes as well. A job well done and we are very quickly coming to the end of that process.
Thank you.
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Supervisor Peters stated he had something that he wanted to talk about;
he has talked to a couple of Board members, but thinks a public conversation needs to
begin to take place. It is a concern of his. During the last several months, our board has
lost, in a sense, its focus. We spent countless hours discussing the debt load of the
County, when in reality the County has proven through the last two cycles of borrowing
that we have been very conscious and conservative on our borrowing; we have not even
borrowed the maximum amount that is allowed by our policy, which is in part due to good
planning by this Board and the County administration. The actual overall debt of the
County is at the lowest amount it has been since he has been on the Board. There is a
reason that he believes we have lost our focus. During last year’s election, himself and
Supervisor McNamara and Supervisor North campaigned on the importance of
Economic Development and he is sure that in next year’s election, Ms. Hooker will do
that as well. However, our Board discussions do not reflect that at all. Let him be a little
more pointed. The year was 2013, none of the five of the current members were on the
Board, but that was the last time Roanoke County had a significant economic
development announcement. It was Ardaugh, with nearly $100 million in investment.
This should be very concerning to this Board and the citizens that we represent. In
2015, we as a Board developed a Community Strategic Plan and we adopted it 2016.
During that development, we were told at 87% of the tax burden in Roanoke County fell
on the backs of our residents, while our commercial base only made up 13%. He
assumed those numbers are still true today. Over the last 15 months, have we as a
Board continued to implement the strategic plan that our citizens were a part of and
supported. We were given a roadmap to move our community forward and improve our
quality of life for our citizens. Again, over the last 15-18 months, he has read in the
Roanoke Times of projects coming to Botetourt, Industrial Park in Franklin County and
we see redevelopment taking place in Roanoke City. Our Director of Economic
nd
Development sent the Board an article from Virginia Business dated March 2,
highlighting five other projects in areas around us. In the last few years, we have seen
the job losses of Norfolk Southern, Advance Auto, Allstate and Allstate has just
announced another round of layoffs in Roanoke. His question is, “What are we doing?”
What are we doing to replace that quality of job? We have not been informed that our
population is declining. So, he is asking, what is our economic development
conversation look like? Do we need diverse housing stock? Do we no longer
concentrate on single-family dwellings? What should our economic development look
like? What do we need to do or can do to attract business and entrepreneurs to the
County? Do we need an incentive plan? How do we plan? Do we invest in
infrastructure? Remember, Amazon, has been looking on the East Coast for another
site. They are also looking for a strong community with a tech savvy area. Again, over
the last several months, we have not been focused on the future growth or growing our
community. Why is it important to have strong revenues? Because they impact
everything from Public Safety, schools, social services and providing a living wage to our
employees, which he states on a regular basis that it is probably one of our strongest
March 13, 2018
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assets. Projects that we should be pushing forward such as the 419 Development,
Wood Haven Project. He was proud to announce with Supervisor Hooker and our
friends in the City of Roanoke, Salem in November of 2016 the purchase of that
property. We need to be pursuing the rezoning of that property to a commercial district.
It is in a key location, 581 and 81 and we purchased it for that purpose not for us to be
partners or our partners to be long-term property owners or to have something for
residential development. The purpose was to increase our commercial space. If we
look, we have proven that when we plan we are successful. The example is simply this
and right now it is the only economic driver we have in Roanoke County, but we proved
that when we plan and when this Board has invested and we deploy our assets
(meaning our staff), we get the results and that is with Explore Park. We need to have
the conversation about where we are going so today he would like to make a request of
Mr. Gates and staff that he would like to request that Mr. Gates and our staff provide us
with a framework for economic development over the next 60 days. We need to see all
options that should be done and feels it should be done publically to get the benefit to
our citizens and the support of our citizens. This Board needs to be open, listen and
encourage our staff to bring us a viable plan. He does not have the solution at this
minute, but firmly believes that if we put our heads together we can become a strong,
robust place to attract businesses to Roanoke County. We need to send a clear
message that Roanoke County is open and inviting to all businesses.
Chairman Hooker stated she would like to piggyback on that and respond
that she knows that Supervisor Peters knows and understands that our budget
discussion are extremely important and we take it very seriously. It is an important duty
of this Board and to maintain reasonable debt loads and keeping those reasonable.
There has been a lot of discussion about that and this is fiscally conservative Board and
we want to make sure that we maintain that perspective. While she appreciates what he
is saying, she thinks our discussion have been very pertinent. Economic Development is
what we need to proceed and not just with our planning, but our actions and look forward
to hearing back with your request. We have been focusing on growth and planning and
that is a vital part of Economic Development, so she thinks it is connected; we would just
like to see some more action and more positive results. She thinks we are all on the
same page. She was handed a pamphlet to help promote an Entrepreneur Express
Seminar; we count on small business owners and would like to encourage more. On
th
March 20 from 9:00 a.m. until 12 noon at the South County Public Library on Merriman
Road, there is going to be a seminar especially for these entrepreneurs. Assessing
resources is crucial for a small business to start and grow and in these challenging
economic times, find financing, new customers markets and accessing help within the
State and Federal Government. Sounds like it could be very useful to a start-up.
Advanced registration is required, so you need to go to www.vastartup.org, blog events,
Roanoke Regional Entrepreneur Express Workshop. It does require advance
registration. If you have questions or require additional information, contact Jessica
Fintel with Roanoke County; this is a joint project with Roanoke City. We look forward to
120 March 13, 2018
having people come to that.
IN RE: ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Hooker adjourned the meeting at 3:52 p.m.
S 4 bmi ted by: Approved by:
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eborah C. i a r a ha B. Hooker
Chief Deputy -rk to the Board Chairman